When you hit the fifth red light in a row, in the middle of a hot-and-heavy argument with your beloved, in the middle of teaching.

Our true lives happen in the moment of the pause. The deep breath. The smell of the sea, fresh cut grass or fall leaves. In fact, it's sacred.

How many times have you charged ahead through an hour, a day.. hell, a whole month? then you have a moment where you truly pause and it's like meeting yourself all over again.

Oh, hi you. welcome home.

You want to hold onto that moment for dear life and never let go. The deep knowing, the feel of being fully present, of being home.

I recently came across a book from Tara Brach where she speaks about the sacred pause and a few days later, while browsing through my first yoga teacher training notebook, I found notes I'd scribbled about it.

What would it be like if, right in the midst of this busyness, we were to consciously take our hands off the controls? What if we were to intentionally stop our mental computations and our rushing around and, for a minute or two, simply pause and notice our inner experience?

A pause is a suspension of activity, a time of temporary disengagement when we are no longer moving towards any goal. The pause can occur in the midst of almost any activity and can last for an instant, for hours or for seasons of our life.

We may pause in a conversation, letting go of what we’re about to say, in order to genuinely listen and be with the other person. We may pause when we feel suddenly moved or delighted or saddened, allowing the feelings to play through our heart. In a pause we simply discontinue whatever we are doing—thinking, talking, walking, writing, planning, worrying, eating—and become wholeheartedly present, attentive and, often, physically still.

Through the sacred art of pausing, we develop the capacity to stop hiding, to stop running away from our experience. We begin to trust in our natural intelligence, in our naturally wise heart, in our capacity to open to whatever arises. Like awakening from a dream, in the moment of pausing our trance recedes and radical acceptance becomes possible."

Mary Beth LaRue

WELCOMEHi, I'm Mary Beth. You can call me MB. I'm a yoga teacher, mentor and the co-founder of Rock Your Bliss living in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. I love books, the ocean, matcha lattes, hip hop and a zillion other things. This is my space to scribble, express, play and remember.